Johnson & Johnson Bets Big on Ronovo Surgical: What This Strategic Alliance Signals for China's Modular Robotic Surgery Market

▲ Source: Eshare Medical Device Hub

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In the midst of rapid advancements in medical technology, the surgical robotics field is undergoing a profound transformation. Recently, the deep collaboration between Ruilong Surgical and Johnson & Johnson has drawn significant attention. This "partnership" not only injects strong momentum into Ruilong Surgical’s development but also accelerates China’s surgical robotics sector, opening up new realms of possibility for the future of domestically produced alternatives.

In September 2025, Ronovo Surgical announced the completion of its D-round financing, with a total amount of up to 67 million US dollars, led by Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC).

And just earlier this year, the company successfully completed its Series C financing.

As of now, the total financing amount for Raydragon Surgical in the first three quarters of 2025 has exceeded 100 million US dollars.

Such a large-scale financing undoubtedly demonstrates the capital market's high level of optimism towards the surgical robotics field, and also highlights the enormous potential of Ruilong Surgical in this track.

At the same time, Ruilong Surgical signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Johnson & Johnson Medical.

The two parties will combine the modular surgical robot platform Carina/Haishan One® with Johnson & Johnson's surgical product portfolio to jointly provide digital minimally invasive surgical solutions for hospitals in China.

This collaboration represents not only the integration of technology and products but also the consolidation of market resources, which is expected to bring a new development model to China's surgical robot market.

Rui Long Surgical was established in 2018/2019 and focuses on the development of modular surgical robots.

The team members come from leading medical device companies and medical institutions both in China and abroad, possessing deep technical expertise and extensive industry experience.

March 2025 marks a milestone for Rui Long Surgical.

Its modular surgical robot platform, Carina/Haishan Yi®, has received NMPA registration approval, becoming the first approved modular surgical robot platform in China, and covering four major clinical specialties—general surgery, gynecology, urology, and thoracic surgery—upon its initial registration.

Unlike traditional surgical robot systems, Carina/海山一® emphasizes "modularity, dexterity, and configurability."

Hospitals can choose configurations based on their actual needs, avoiding high costs for rarely used functions, thus reducing procurement costs and maintenance fees.

At the same time, this modular design can more flexibly adapt to the surgical needs of hospitals at different levels, whether large tertiary hospitals or grassroots medical institutions, all can find suitable solutions.

Johnson & Johnson, recognizing the high compatibility of this approach with the Chinese market, decisively chose to collaborate with Ruilong Surgical.

Traditional surgical robot systems have many pain points in practical applications.

The high procurement cost has deterred many hospitals, especially those at the prefectural and county levels, which are simply unable to afford it. The vast floor space required also limits its use in some medical institutions with limited space. Moreover, its complex operation and maintenance require professional technicians for handling and upkeep, further increasing the usage cost.

The modular approach of Raydragon Surgical provides a new direction for solving these problems.

Its modular surgical robot offers flexibility, allowing hospitals to purchase only commonly used functions without paying for the entire system for rare procedures; it is scalable, enabling gradual upgrades as hospital services grow to meet evolving clinical needs; it is easy to maintain, with module replacement significantly reducing downtime and improving equipment efficiency; more importantly, the cost is significantly reduced, making it possible for municipal or even county-level hospitals to introduce robotic surgery, allowing more patients to benefit from advanced medical technology.

For a long time, the global soft tissue robotics market has been dominated by the da Vinci system (Intuitive Surgical), with a market share of approximately 60%. However, in the Chinese market, local enterprises are rapidly emerging.

The Toumai® series of Minimally Invasive Medical Robots received approval for multiple products in 2025, demonstrating strong R&D capabilities and market competitiveness; Beijing Sureal Single-port Robot obtained NMPA innovative product approval in 2023, bringing new ideas to the development of surgical robots; Weigao Group's Miaoshou® has also entered clinical application, providing patients with more options.

Support from policy and payment sides also provides a strong guarantee for the development of surgical robots produced in China.

For example, Beijing has included the start-up fee for robot-assisted surgery (8,000 yuan) in Class A of medical insurance since 2021. Single-use dedicated consumables are reimbursed according to the Class B ratio, reducing the financial burden on patients and increasing the utilization rate of surgical robots. At the national level, it was proposed that by 2027, the investment scale in medical equipment should increase by more than 25% compared to 2023. The construction of smart hospitals and equipment upgrades have created a broad market space for domestically produced high-end equipment.

In terms of capital, Ruilong Surgical's "C + D rounds totaling over 100 million US dollars" has become a leading case, attracting more capital attention and investment.

Although China-produced surgical robots have made remarkable progress, they still face many challenges. In terms of technology, there is still a certain gap between core components, force feedback, algorithms, and the international leading level, which to some extent affects the performance and stability of surgical robots.

Clinical acceptance is also an urgent issue to address. The surgical habits that doctors have developed over a long period are difficult to change in a short time, and they need to retrain in using surgical robots. However, the current training system is still inadequate and needs to be built from scratch.

In terms of business models, the key lies in how to lower the procurement threshold for hospitals. Exploring innovative methods such as leasing, installment payments, and pay-per-use can encourage more hospitals to try and utilize surgical robots, thereby promoting market adoption.

The collaboration between Raylong Surgical and Johnson & Johnson exemplifies the business model innovation driven by "technology + channel," providing a valuable reference for industry development.

Looking ahead, surgical robots will develop in the directions of intelligent upgrading, application expansion, localization advancement, and remote surgery.

In terms of intelligent upgrades, AI will empower surgical navigation and provide real-time prompts, reducing the learning curve for doctors and improving the precision and safety of surgeries. In application expansion, it will extend from specialized fields such as urology and gynecology to multiple areas including general surgery, thoracic surgery, and cardiac surgery, achieving penetration across multiple specialties and surgical procedures.

Localization will further increase the rate of domestically produced components, reduce costs, and make products more accessible. Remote surgery, leveraging 5G applications, allows experts to remotely control surgical robots, bringing high-quality medical services to patients in remote areas.

It is predicted that in the next five years, the market for surgical robots in China is expected to maintain an annual growth rate of over 25%, and by 2030, the scale may exceed 40 billion yuan.

Conclusion:

RuiLong Surgical's financing and collaboration with Johnson & Johnson is not only a strategic choice between capital and industry giants, but also a microcosm of the accelerating maturity of China's surgical robot industry chain.

Driven by policy support, capital assistance, and technological innovation, Chinese-produced surgical robots are ushering in unprecedented development opportunities.

If Chinese enterprises can overcome technical bottlenecks and establish a viable business model, they will not only be able to achieve import substitution in the future but also have the opportunity to occupy a place in the global market, contributing Chinese wisdom and strength to the development of global medical technology.

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